Bihar bans liquor completely. Yet people still die from bad liquor there. How can a ban and a tragedy exist together?
This lesson explains who controls liquor in India and where bans exist. It then covers hooch, the big tragedies and why bans are hard to enforce.
- Who decides: the State, under State List entries 8 and 51.
- Constitution: Article 47 urges prohibition. It is only a directive.
- Court view: no fundamental right to trade in liquor (Khoday, 1994).
- Dry now: Bihar, Gujarat, Mizoram and Nagaland. Manipur has eased its ban.
- Hooch killer: methanol.
- NCRB 2024: 421 deaths from spurious liquor.
Who Controls Liquor in India?
Is liquor a Union or a State matter?
It is mainly a State matter. Entry 8 of the State List covers intoxicating liquors. That means making, owning, moving, buying and selling them.
Entry 51 lets States tax liquor made in the State, through excise duty. Entry 84 of the Union List taxes tobacco and other goods, but it leaves out alcoholic liquor for human consumption.
What does the Constitution say?
Article 47 asks the State to work to ban intoxicating drinks and drugs that harm health, except for medical use. It is a Directive Principle. Courts cannot enforce it.
Our Article 47 article explains the directive in full.
Sources: Constitution of India, Article 47.
Can a trader claim a right to sell liquor?
No. In Khoday Distilleries v. State of Karnataka (19 October 1994), the Supreme Court held that there is no fundamental right to trade in liquor. Article 19(1)(g) does not cover it.
The State can regulate the trade, run it itself or ban it. It may also restrict it with a high licence fee. See also Article 19 and Article 301.
Sources: Khoday Distilleries v. State of Karnataka, 1994; Constitution of India, Article 47.
Check 1
Article 47 is a Fundamental Right that courts can enforce.
Check 2
The Supreme Court held in Khoday Distilleries (1994) that there is no fundamental right to trade in liquor.
Where Is Liquor Banned?
What is the Bihar story?
Bihar announced a ban on 5 April 2016. The Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act took effect on 2 October 2016.
On 30 September 2016, the Patna High Court struck the law down. On 7 October 2016, the Supreme Court stayed that order, and the ban returned. In 2022 the Cabinet cut the penalty for a first drinking offence to a fine of Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000.
Sources: Indian Express: SC stays Patna HC order, 8 Oct 2016; Scroll: Bihar ban back in force.
How does Gujarat differ?
Gujarat has been dry since it separated from Bombay Province in 1960. It follows the Bombay Prohibition Act, 1949, but allows permits.
Anyone aged 21 or older can get a temporary permit. Anyone aged 40 or older, and ex-servicemen, can get a health permit.
What about Mizoram, Nagaland and Manipur?
Mizoram imposed prohibition again on 28 May 2019. Nagaland has been dry under the Nagaland Liquor Total Prohibition Act, 1989. In August 2024, its Cabinet decided to revisit that law.
Manipur has been dry since 1991. In December 2023 it eased the ban in parts of the State.
Sources: EastMojo: Mizoram dry again, 28 May 2019; AIR News: Nagaland to revisit prohibition Act, 22 Aug 2024.
More: Indian Express: Manipur partially lifts prohibition, Dec 2023.
Which States tried a ban and reversed it?
Andhra Pradesh banned arrack in 1995 under N. T. Rama Rao and lifted the ban in 1997. Haryana brought in prohibition in July 1996. It lifted the ban from April 1998, after about 21 months.
Kerala followed a phased ban from 2014. In June 2017 it let three-star hotels and above hold bar licences again. See N. T. Rama Rao.
Sources: Indian Express Explained: Andhra Pradesh and liquor; Lokmat Times: Haryana’s prohibition tryst.
More: Indian Express: Kerala amends liquor policy, 8 Jun 2017; Indian Express: Kerala bar hotels open again.
Check 3
Haryana lifted its prohibition in April 1998, about 21 months after imposing it.
Hooch and Its Victims
What is hooch, and why does it kill?
Hooch is illicit liquor. Makers sometimes add methanol to raise its strength cheaply. The body breaks methanol into toxic products. They cause acidosis and damage the optic nerve.
Victims may feel fine at first, then turn very ill after a delay. Doctors give fomepizole or ethanol as an antidote.
Sources: UKHSA: Methanol toxicological overview.
Which tragedies should I know?
Gujarat, July 2022: the Botad-Ahmedabad toll reached 42. Bihar, December 2022: officials counted 42 deaths in Saran. The NHRC report counted 77, though one headline said 75. Tamil Nadu, June 2024: 70 died at Kallakurichi, and 161 were injured.
Punjab, May 2025: the Amritsar toll rose to 27. In all four cases, the cause was methanol in illicit liquor.
Sources: Indian Express: Gujarat hooch toll 42, 28 Jul 2022; Indian Express: NHRC on Bihar hooch deaths.
More: Times of India: Kallakurichi commission; The Tribune: Amritsar toll rises to 27, 16 May 2025.
What does NCRB say?
The NCRB report Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India 2024 records 421 deaths from spurious liquor across India. Jharkhand had the most, with 84.
Check 4
Methanol is a harmless alcohol that only adds strength to hooch.
Why Are Bans Hard to Enforce?
What happens when legal liquor is cut off?
Demand does not vanish. It shifts to the illicit trade. Illicit brews are unregulated, so their strength and content are unchecked.
That is why a dry State can still see mass deaths, as Saran showed in 2022.
Legal liquor is licensed, taxed and sold under rules. Illicit liquor skips all of this. A ban therefore does not remove the risk. It can move it out of sight.
Who is blamed after a tragedy?
The Justice B. Gokuldas Commission on Kallakurichi blamed officials across departments, including police and revenue staff, for wilful negligence.
So the fault often lies in weak enforcement, not only in the brewers.
Sources: Times of India: Kallakurichi commission.
Why do governments relax or reverse bans?
Several reasons recur: lost excise income, illicit trade and the burden of policing. Haryana and Andhra Pradesh both dropped their bans within about two years. Kerala softened its policy within three years.
Our pith and substance article shows why a State law on liquor can still touch other fields.
Sources: Lokmat Times: Haryana’s prohibition tryst; Indian Express: Kerala amends liquor policy, 8 Jun 2017.
Check 5
Bihar’s Prohibition and Excise Act took effect on 2 October 2016.
Exam Traps
Liquor is in State List entry 8, and the excise duty is in entry 51. Article 47 is a directive, not a right.
Khoday (1994) says there is no fundamental right to trade in liquor. The State may ban it.
Hooch tragedies: Gujarat 2022 (42), Saran 2022 (42 officially), Kallakurichi 2024 (70) and Amritsar 2025 (27).
Bihar: ban announced 5 April 2016, Act in force 2 October 2016, and the Supreme Court stayed the High Court order on 7 October 2016.
MCQ on Liquor Prohibition and Hooch Tragedies in India
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